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GOING BEYOND CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE A Guide for CIOs, IT VPs, and Enterprise Architects
A UNIFIED SOLUTION FOR A UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE
IT teams across the globe are struggling to keep up with the increasing complexity of their critical infrastructure. As more hardware, devices, apps, and tools are deployed to support growth, the infrastructure as a whole becomes increasingly difficult to integrate, manage and support— especially when you start mixing components from different vendors that haven’t been engineered to work together. Converged infrastructure was seen by many as a potential answer. The premise was that a single box could better integrate compute, storage, and networking, ideally minimizing compatibility issues and easing management behind a single pane of glass. Reality turned out to be very different. Disparate components from separate organizations weren’t engineered to be deeply integrated, used and supported together. Converged infrastructure had no knowledge of database, middleware and applications, sapping efficiency and adding complexity. And no converged infrastructure solution had a convenient and compatible public - cloud consumption option — essentially a strategic dead end in this era of cloud.
Oracle’s engineered systems are designed to overcome the limitations of traditional converged infrastructure solutions. They are deeply integrated from application to storage, and supported by a single company. They have unique capabilities for supporting critical databases and applications that ordinary converged infrastructure simply can’t do. And Oracle engineered systems have precise equivalents in the Oracle Cloud, presenting an easy path to cloud if desired. Oracle engineered systems deliver an optimized, simplified and cost- effective alternative to competing converged infrastructure approaches when considering database and application requirements.
GOING BEYOND CONVENTIONAL
CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE
Oracle engineered systems go beyond simple converged infrastructure solutions, delivering deep integration and optimization between:
CLOUD
APPLICATIONS
OPERATING SYSTEM
VIRTUAL MACHINE
NETWORKING
SERVERS
STORAGE
PROCESSORS
DATABASE
THE CIO PERSPECTIVE
Maximizing the impact of scarce budget and talent while continuing to deliver critical application services has always been near the top of most CIOs’ priorities. Oracle engineered systems go beyond ordinary converged infrastructure solutions, offering more business impact at lower cost—and with less effort from your team.
MITIGATING RISK, MAXIMIZING SECURITY Oracle engineered systems deliver proven results in minimal time for critical application environments. There’s no guesswork and an absolute minimum of integration required, reducing implementation risk. More importantly, Oracle engineered systems can form the basis of an enhanced risk-mitigation strategy that helps protect the enterprise’s single most important asset: databases containing sensitive information. Databases can be consolidated into a far fewer number of systems, reducing the surface attack threat surface. High degrees of database consolidation make it simpler and easier to implement comprehensive protection techniques like advanced credential management and strong access-control policies. Oracle engineered systems also make it easier and more cost-effective to universally encrypt all database information across the entire information lifecycle, from development to production to long-term archiving. Finally, Oracle engineered systems include advanced hardening, patching and protection methodologies that minimize the people and process shortcomings that underlie so many publicized incidents. Ordinary converged infrastructure solutions stop at the hypervisor, and can’t take advantage of deep security integration with the database. Multiple vendors are responsible for patching and hardening the environment. Finding and closing gaps ends up being the responsibility of your IT staff, and not a single vendor with an end-to-end view.
AN ENTERPRISE-CLASS CLOUD STRATEGY Many CIOs are actively formulating their cloud strategy, with the twin goals of delivering increased business agility while reducing enterprise IT costs and effort. One central challenge has been overcoming the substantial architectural incompatibility between data-center operations and most public cloud offerings. This can be particularly problematic when considering the enterprise applications that power your business. Oracle engineered systems bridge the gap between data center and public cloud. They have precise technical and operational equivalents in the Oracle Cloud, making hybrid cloud much simpler to achieve in a variety of scenarios: test and development, resource bursting, or geographically dispersed applications. The Oracle Cloud delivers a complete and functionally rich suite of integrated IaaS/PaaS/SaaS services that can be consumed externally, delivered as a set of products in your data center, or in any combination that aligns with your business goals. By comparison, ordinary converged infrastructure solutions can’t easily deliver a compatible, enterprise-grade cloud option, nor can they offer a rich suite of integrated IaaS/PaaS/SaaS services. Your organization ends up being responsible for integrating multiple operational stacks, which saps productivity and effectiveness.
THE SENIOR IT LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE
Senior IT leaders everywhere understand that the more resource being spent on keeping the lights on, the less available for important innovations and new capabilities. By dramatically simplifying operations, more effort can be spent on the things that matter to the business. Converged infrastructure promised to simplify infrastructure operations, but in many cases resulted in another vendor being added to the existing mix. Converged infrastructure also stops at the hypervisor, and ignores the database, middleware and applications. Oracle engineered systems free up IT staff from most of the typical work associated with ordinary infrastructure solutions, giving them precious time to focus on new projects and initiatives. Oracle engineered systems deliver more value than ordinary infrastructure solutions: more performance, better resource efficiency, higher levels of availability, and hardened security as well. When considering cloud, Oracle engineered systems can be immediately and confidently used with Oracle cloud services for a wide variety of use cases: development and testing, conversions and migrations, or extra capacity without capital expense.
PROTECTING DATA WHERE IT LIVES
Industry evidence shows that the vast majority of information breaches are a direct result of poor process and integration. With Oracle engineered systems, security is engineered at every layer of the stack, and not bolted on as an afterthought. IT shops use Oracle engineered systems to dramatically consolidate their database footprint, not only saving money but reducing the surface attack threat area to a handful of systems. Powerful and integrated database, server and storage technologies enable encryption to be used universally, and not selectively—and across the lifecycle from development to long-term archiving.
Oracle engineered systems also include strong process support (integrated patching, STIGs and policy configuration management) that harden and protect your database environment. As Oracle engineered systems have precise equivalents in the Oracle Cloud, the same security mechanisms and policies can be used consistently both on premises and with a public cloud. Unlike typical converged infrastructure solutions, with Oracle engineered systems, security and risk mitigation are engineered, and not bolted on as an afterthought. The exact same security mechanisms found in Oracle engineered systems are also provided via the Oracle Cloud.
THE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT PERSPECTIVE
As an enterprise architect, one of the hardest choices is deciding when to build—and when to buy. Oracle engineered systems deliver a rock-solid, preintegrated foundation that provides a strategic platform for business innovation—freeing you and your team to focus on unique business requirements rather than on underlying implementation details. Every Oracle engineered system delivers predictable performance, scalability, availability, recoverability, and security—and does so in a way that minimizes operational effort. Strategic projects and initiatives can be delivered with confidence—because the software and hardware were designed to work together.
BEING PREPARED TO DELIVER ON CLOUD Designing a new modern application-delivery environment without a proven cloud option is becoming a non-starter for so many IT groups. Ideally, your architecture should have cloud engineered in, and not bolted on as an afterthought. Oracle engineered systems have precise equivalents in the Oracle public cloud, meaning that architectures built on them is cloud-ready on day one. No converged infrastructure vendor can make that important claim.
ARCHITECTING AN INHERENTLY SECURE ENVIRONMENT Modern risk-mitigation thinking points to architectural design considerations as to whether a given environment can be effectively secured. The more complexity, the more incompatible components, the more difficult it becomes to continually assure security. Oracle engineered systems are designed to protect the most important information asset in the enterprise—the database. Architects can design highly consolidated environments with fewer attack points, enable universal encryption, and rely on Oracle’s expertise in security hardening from application to storage—and do so in a way that typical converged infrastructure can’t match.
BEYOND CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE
Whatever your role within your organization’s IT function, your infrastructure decisions will have far-reaching impact, both today and tomorrow. Today’s concerns are immediate: delivering critical application services while reducing costs and complexity. Oracle engineered systems have proven themselves thousands of times in demanding enterprises around the globe, and in every industry sector—and have done so in a way unmatched by traditional infrastructure solutions. Tomorrow’s concerns are strategic: rethinking security postures in a world of increasing threats against the database, and providing an attractive path to cloud if desired. Oracle engineered systems can dramatically improve the security posture of critical databases. And Oracle engineered systems have precise, compatible equivalents in the Oracle Cloud, providing a built-in cloud option.
Learn more about Oracle engineered systems solutions today by visiting oracle.com/engineeredsystems
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